Lt. Gov. Patrick Recovering From Pneumonia

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (R) was recently diagnosed with viral pneumonia and is currently away from the office as he rests and works on legislation from home.

In a statement, the lieutenant governor's office shared the news of Lt. Gov. Patrick's current condition.

"Lt. Gov. Patrick was diagnosed with viral pneumonia early Thursday morning. He will be recovering and working from home until he can resume his full-time schedule. #txlege"

Patrick has been working with the Texas state senate in an attempt to pass HB4. The bill is considered a partisan bill, predominately backed by the GOP. HB4 is primarily focused on the "prohibitions on the illegal entry into or illegal presence in this state by a person who is an alien, the enforcement of those prohibitions, and authorizing the removal of persons who violate certain of those prohibitions in lieu of arrest; creating criminal offenses."

However, if approved, the legislation would permit Texas law enforcement officers to detain undocumented immigrants. Moreover, the immigrants could be charged with a misdemeanor and removed from the state.

Earlier in the year, Lt. Gov. Patrick was heavily focused on passing multiple property tax bills. In a tweet, he shared his statement regarding the new bipartisan property tax bills.

“The Texas Senate has unanimously passed three historic property tax bills - SB 3, SB 4, & SB 5," tweeted Lt. Gov. Patrick. "This is a great testament to Republicans and Democrats working together for all of their constituents.”

“All 31 Senators, Republicans and Democrats alike, were joint authors of this bill,” stated the lieutenant governor.

He continued, stating, “In 2019, the Governor signed House Bill 3 into law. HB 3 decoupled Texans’ appraisal values of their homes from the property taxes they pay, and this impact increases over time.”

“The law now automatically cuts school tax rates when local school property values grow by more than 2.5% per year. Thus, as property values increase, the school property tax rate decreases," stated Lt. Gov. Patrick.

HB4, along with the recent property tax bill, is just the latest example of the contested bills coming out of the Texas House and Senate.